Mud and Gold [Arthur Morgan] [RDR2]

➵ chapter iv

The journal contained more than just the map of the Grizzlies. 

After a thorough inspection of its contents, Arthur found a quite detailed guide of how to find a hidden cave deep within the mountains, in the Grizzlies East; many pages filled to the brim with plentiful annotations describing the area, specifying peaks and secret paths, pointing how to find, and enter the hidden cave.

Arthur sat on a random fallen log by the burnt farm, while he continued to examine the journal, his eyebrows knitting together every time he found yet a new piece of information among the countless annotations. 

(y/n) sat beside him, quietly watched him read the journal's notes.

"What d'ya think?" she asked him softly the moment he closed the journal, after a long half hour. "Think it's true?"

Arthur glanced at the beautiful woman sitting next to him with a thoughtful frown. He didn't know what to think; on more than one occasion he'd met fellers assuring there were plenty of treasures hidden all throughout the land, but he never believed any of them. However, seeing this girl's father's journal explaining in great detail the location of a stash of gold, hidden in the middle of the mountains, made him change his mind—there could've been only one way of knowing so much about a gold stash.

"'m not sure..." he admitted, and glanced down at the journal. "Was yer father a treasure hunter 'r somethin'?"

(y/n) seemed taken aback by his question. "N-no! My pa always was workin' in the farm and with the animals... But," she paused, a frown crossed her face. "Now that I think of it, there were times where he went to ranches and other farms to trade, which took him a few days at most... Sometimes he was gone for weeks, and I never understood why."

Arthur raised his eyebrows at her words as he sat up. He glanced down at the journal, then back at (y/n), and let out small laugh as he understood. "'m afraid he was doin' much more than jus' tradin', (y/n)," he stated.

"Guess so!" Her eyes flew closed as she brought her hands to her face, and shook her head. "And here my momma thought he was seein' someone else..." she mumbled, laughing quietly at the end. She let out a deep sigh as she looked up, dropping her hands to her lap.

Arthur watched her stare at the clear blue sky above, with eyes full of wonder. He couldn't help but admire her beauty right then and there—he found it extremely attractive the way her soft (h/c) hair framed her beautiful face, with only a few loose strands slightly out of that bun she had put it on at the beginning of their trip. He loved the way her eyes sparkled with the daylight as she gazed up, deep in thought.

He snapped out of his trance when he heard his horse neighing behind him; he glanced at the steed, and saw her still enjoying the soft blades of grass, not too far from their spot.

"He'd always speak of a treasure he'd found, said we were rich," (y/n) spoke up softly. Arthur turned to look at her quickly, found her staring at her father's journal, which he still held in his hand. "I never believed him. I always thought he'd found a few lost dollars somewhere, and was talking 'bout those," she laughed.

Arthur chuckled and shook his head slightly. "Ain't exactly look like jus' a few dollars to me," he said as he raised the journal, and nodded at it.

(y/n) nodded her head, and smiled sadly. "Yeah. I kinda regret not believing him at the time... He always was dreamin' of something big, ya know? Bigger than the farm." Her eyes closed softly. "He talked about buyin' a manor in Saint Denis—that he dreamed of the most." A chuckle escaped her, before she bit her lip, and opened her eyes. "I was just fine with our little farm here," she glanced at the remains, "but I guess that wasn't enough for him."